Hi Jeff,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

According to a subscription antiquarian map website, this antique map of Morea or Peloponnese in Greece was published out of Amsterdam by Guiljelmus Blaeu for ‘Atlas Maior’ circa 1666. It notes numerous towns and large cities throughout, including Patras, Argos, Korinth, and Athens (across the gulf). Rivers and mountain ranges are delineated, the coastline is well defined, and many of the surrounding isles are named. The map features decorative elements, such as the ornamental cartouche with a crescent moon and four sailing ships.

Willem (Guiljelmus) Blaeu and his son Joan Blaeu were the premier cartographers of the Dutch Golden Age, a period when the Netherlands was the global center of mapmaking.

A map from the Atlas Maior is a product of elite engraving, rigorous geographic scholarship and the most lavish atlas of the 17th century. When other mid 17th Century copies have come to auction, they have sold for prices ranging from $500-800, with retailers asking as much as $1,000 for copies they are selling. Note that if this is determined to be a later copy, the value would diminish.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

BLAEU, Willem, Dutch, 17th Century
MAP OF MOREA, circa 1666
colored engraved print
18 by 22 inches
CONDITION: With seams, edge tears and edge losses
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$500-800*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia